1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device with a communication feature, such as an information processing device like a notebook-type personal computer or a palmtop-type personal computer with a wireless data communication feature.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In recent years, a portable personal computer provided with a wireless data communication feature has been developed. For mounting an antenna on such a computer, a planar antenna is typically placed within a housing of a display section of a liquid crystal panel, or the like. Recently, however, many display housings of personal computers are often made of a conductor, such as a magnesium alloy in order to reduce thickness or increase strength. In such a case, the placement of an antenna within a display housing causes the antenna to be surrounded entirely by the conductor, thereby failing to provide favorable antenna performance.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/456,986 (filed on Dec. 7, 1999 and allowed on Apr. 19, 2001) assigned to the same assignee as the present application and its divisional application Ser. No. 09/716,466 (filed on Nov. 21, 2000), for example, describe an antenna structure that includes a housing of a display section using a conductive cover made of a magnesium alloy, or the like. A planar antenna is mounted in the housing such that an area for mounting an antenna is shielded by a cover member formed of an insulating member. That is, the housing of the display section is made of the conductive cover member such as a magnesium alloy, except for on the side of the display section. An opening is formed for mounting a planer antenna in the generally central portion of a free end (i.e., the top end when the display section is opened) of the housing of the display section. A shield formed from the conductive member is provided for each surface within the antenna housing. A planar antenna is fixed in the opening through an insulating member on the. bottom surface of the antenna housing, and its upper opening is covered with the same insulating member.
Such an antenna structure insulates radiation noise from the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and achieves a favorable antenna radiation characteristic with less polarization to provide satisfactory environments for transmission and reception both when the display housing is opened and when it is closed.
Such a mounting, however, requires an extension of the upper portion (free end) of the display housing corresponding to the antenna length due to the need for a large mounting space in the upper portion of the display housing. Therefore, the housing has a larger size than that of a computer provided with no antenna, and has a lower package density. The problem occurs not only in a portable personal computer, but also in a portable information processing terminal and a desktop personal computer as well.
Accordingly, a conventional electronic device with a wireless communication feature has the disadvantage of requiring extra space for mounting an antenna, which makes providing a device with a reduced size and a higher package density difficult.